US-522 over C&O Canal & Potomac River and over Main Street in Hancock, MD

River & Canal: (Archived Bridge Hunter is broke, no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Main Street: (no Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

C&O Canal Overview

I labeled these notes as both "bridgeTruss" and "bridgeGirderSteel" because it is a hybrid of both.

Street View, Apr 2016

I include the Main Street Bridge because that is the one that Historic Bridges choose to document.

Street View, Sep 2023

Since the BridgeHunter link is broke, I can only access the index entry. Since this bridge was built in 1937, I don't know why I can't find it in HistoricBridges. It is old and it has plenty of character.

BridgeHunter_index

Metrotrails added

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal passing beneath the Rt 522 Bridge in Hancock Maryland looking east.

This bridge is an uncommon example of a combination Wichert Deck Truss and deck girder span built about 1937. It crosses the Potomac River between Maryland and West Virginia at the point where Maryland is under 2 miles wide from north to south.

Denny Baughman: Nice photo of a very unique bridge…Although I worked in the bridge industry nationwide for 50 years (including the inspection of the former wichert deck truss over the Potomac and C&O Canal downstream at Shepherdstown WV), this is a bridge type that I’ve never seen before.

M'ke Helbing shared

MDOT, SHA photo

1884+1915 AVR/CSX/B&O Glenwood Bridge #73 over Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, PA

(Bridge Hunter broke Mar 22, 2023; Historic Bridges; PGHbridges; Satellite)

AVR = Allegheny Valley Railroad

The big Pennsylvania truss span is rivet connected, and the two Parker spans are pin connected. [HistoricBridges]

PGHbridges has quite a bit of information about this part of the B&O railroad. 

mapcarta, public domain

Joseph Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)

Rust Belt Railroading posted
AVR-3 crossing the old B&O bridge over sand castle.

RoadTrippers

1880 Aban/AVR/B&O Bridge over Allegheny River Back Channel in Pittsburgh, PA

(no Archived Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; no pghbridges; Satellite)

Because of the density of trees on the east coast, I can't get any street views of this bridge.

These notes are about the grade level bridge in the foreground that B&O used to access Herr's Island. The high-level bridge went over the island, and it provided B&O access to the heart of Pittsburgh. Both bridges are now owned by Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR). AVR still uses the high-level bridge.

Screenshot from a drone video posted by Dave Kuntz

Dave Kuntz posted three images with the comment: "Herrs Island near Pittsburgh.  Once a site of major industry, now mostly parks, houses, and office buildings.  There are no active tracks on the island anymore.  One bridge is now a bike trail and the other [this one] is completely falling apart and is featured below alongside the bridge that still crosses the island, albeit as a singletrack instead of two.  Don't miss the historic aerial photo and compare it to a modern flyover!"

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HistoricBridges

1903,1999 Three Rivers Heritage Trail/Pennsy Herr's Island Railroad Bridge over Allegheny River Back Channel in Pittsburgh, PA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; HAER; pghbridges; Satellite, 130 photos)

The official name is West Penn Railroad Bridge. Other names are South Railroad Bridge and the one I used in the title. [pghbridges] 

This bridge carried an industrial spur to Herr's Island. Among other things, that island contained the stockyards for the Pittsburgh railroads.

 

HAER PA,2-PITBU,70--2
Side view from west bank view southeast - West Penn Bridge, Pennsylvania Railroad, spanning Allegheny River, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA

"A distinctive structure, the bridge is skewed, which is uncommon for pin-connected through truss bridges. More rare however is the use of vertical end posts for a simple Pratt truss like this." [HistoricBridges]

This 1903 Pennsy bridge was converted to pedestrian use in 1999. The skew angle is 20 degrees. [BridgeHunter]

Brown Sugar, Dec 2019

Built to provide railroad access to Washington's Landing (formerly Heir's Island), the South Railroad Bridge has become a signature bridge in the City of Pittsburgh. The elegant double intersection Pratt truss frames a dramatic view of the City of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny River. [HAER_data]

Matt Torti, Jul 2020

Dave Kuntz posted four photos with the comment:

Herrs Island "Whipple" Truss Railroad Bridge near Pittsburgh.  80 years ago the island was so stuffed with railroad tracks and industry that I'm not sure if there was a single tree on it.  Today it's condos and parks and a few office buildings and a tiny rail trail that takes cyclists over to it.

Greg Roeder: Squire Whipple designed it, a Union college grad and prolific bridge designer. There's a Triple Whipple in Indiana (Laughery Creek Bridge ) that runs nearly 300 feet and still standing (used by pedestrians).

David Boyd: Where can you park to bike over the bridge???

Dennis DeBruler: I noticed this trail parking lot on Google maps. It is very close to this bridge: https://maps.app.goo.gl/FyieQh5YJHftJt2K8.

[Several comments discuss bridges designed by Squire Whipple]

Dan Callendar shared

Mark Campbell: Was this the old stock yards?

Dennis DeBruler: Mark Campbell Yes, http://pghbridges.com/pittsburghE/0586-4479/herr_is_rr.htm

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1949 AR-187 The "Little Golden Gate" Bridge over White River at Beaver, AK

(Satellite, 322 photos)

I looked on a couple of maps for the name of the river, but I couldn't find it. But I found some sources that indicated it is the White River and the headwater of the Table Rock Lake, which is created by the Table Rock Dam.

Street View, Mar 2024

I included the weight limit sign in the above street view because of this bus crossing the bridge. A comment stated that the loaded weight is 24 tons and the empty weight is 10 tons.

0:41 video
[There were a lot of comments that said no problem because a suspension bridge is designed to be flexible. And other comments pointing out that something can flex too much and be damaged. I finally found a comment that sounded knowledgeable.]

Tonya Ross Perry: That’s in Beaver, Arkansas. It was actually two busses that went over. They ignored the signage. There was room for them to turn around before the bridge. The company was fined, and the bridge was so badly damaged most of the Timbers had to be replaced. It is a one-way bridge. People just take turns.

Within sight of the bridge, there is an old corps of engineers RV park. The park bid on the old materials that came from the bridge when it was repaired. My husband was working there at the park when they used the old wood to shore up some crumbling infrastructure [retaining walls] in the park. This bridge is a one lane wooden bridge. Some of the Timbers split under the weight.

I got another street view to show the wood deck.

Street View, Mar 2024

I wonder when this flooding happened. The river level of the street view at the top of these notes is much more typical according to other photos that I have seen of the bridge.

csengineermag
The bridge is 554' (166m) long. It is also called the Golden Gate of the Ozarks.

But this river is no stranger to high water.

TripAdvisor, June 2012

Kent Pillatsch posted two photos with the comment:

This suspension bridge in Beaver Arkansas is known as the Golden Gate Bridge of Arkansas. It crosses the White River.  Built 1949 by the Pioneer Construction Co. of Malvern, Arkansas.

Dimensions

    Main span length: 311.9 ft.

    Total length: 554.0 ft.

    Deck width: 11.1 ft.

    Vertical clearance: 13.8 ft.

Status

    Open to one-lane traffic with a 10 ton weight limit.

source https://www.waymarking.com/.../wm100N_BEAVER_SUSPENSION...

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Caine Road Covered Bridge over West Branch Ashtabula River in Ashtabula County, OH

(Archived Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite, 174 photos)

According to the Bridge Hunter index, this county has quite a few covered bridges.

The bridge is 96' (29m) long. [BridgeHunter]

Jim Fredlund posted five photos with the comment:

Caine Road Covered Bridge ~ Ashtabula County OH

This first Pratt truss bridge in Ohio was built in 1986 to honor Ashtabula County's 175th Anniversary. The 124 foot long bridge traverses the west branch of the Ashtabula River. - Ashtabula County Visitor Bureau

John Weeks: Perfect lighting on one of the shots, and an excellent water reflection on another shot. It doesn't get much better than that!

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1926+1983 GA-181 Smith-McGee Bridges over Savannah River at Hart County, GA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; HAER; Satellite, 112 photos)

This 680' (207m) long bridge has three 178' (54m) long, pin-connected spans. [BridgeHunter, HAER]

Street View, Aug 2016

HAER GA,74-HART.V,2--1
1. Aerial view from South Carolina towards Georgia, showing approach - Smith-McGee Bridge, Georgia Route 181, Hartwell, Hart County, GA

Significance: The Smith-McGee Bridge is a three-span, pinconnected Camelback through truss bridge with approach ramps. It was built in 1922 as a toll bridge across the Savannah River. It was acquired in 1926 by Georgia and South Carolina and operates as a non-toll bridge. The bridge is a well-preserved example of a Camelback Truss and exhibits important features of the American System of pin connections. [HAER_data]

HAER GA,74-HART.V,2--2
2. Aerial view north towards Lake Hartwell

I looked at the HAER photos before I read the significance. I got a TIFF version of this photo to confirm the truss was pin connected because I didn't realize that the significance would tell me that.

Digitally Zoomed

Paul Bridges posted seven photos with the comment: "Smith-McGee Bridge on the GA SC Line, Hart County Georgia."

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